Thursday, March 09, 2017

Kanayo F. Nwanze, President of the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), made an appeal to governments on behalf of poor rural people across the globe.

“When people face the prospect of dying in poverty and hunger, they migrate to cities and beyond. For them, no ocean is wide enough, no fence will ever rise high enough, no border will ever be impregnable enough to keep out desperate women, children and men.”

Bibi Ameenah Firdaus Gurib-Fakim, President of Mauritius, spoke of the crisis unfolding on the ground in many African countries.”Sub-Saharan Africa remains the locus of poverty, with too many of our fellow citizens living below the poverty line. Today nearly two in five children are malnourished and one in eight women is underweight,” said Gurib-Fakim. “In the absence of a flourishing agricultural sector, the majority of Africans will be excluded from the rising tide of prosperity.”

Maurizio Martina, Italy's Minister of Agriculture, said, “Hunger and poverty, especially in rural areas are often the first link in a chain of factors that bring conflict, instability, humanitarian emergency and migration.”